Crown And Anchor - British Pub

I decided to try everything I'd eat on the menu of my favourite British Pub in Sin City, but unfortunately was not able to complete the task. However I will post a summary of the items I did manage to get to.

To start, I'll give a general description/review of Crown and Anchor. The atmosphere is very laid back, and very comfortable. It's half standard pub and half college bar, given it's proximity to UNLV. For obvious reason's, it's more college bar on weekday evenings. They have a great selection of beers from around the world and have all the UK standards on tap including Black Thorn, Guiness, and Newcastle. Crown and Anchor is split into two sections. There's the bar area, which includes the bar, a darts area, and a upstairs section that has a pool table. Then, there's the restaurant area which includes not only the main dining area, but a smaller one in another upstairs section and a patio in the front. The entire place is covered in TVs and various UK product ads from back in the day. Soccer and Rugby are the standard sports on, but during the various American sport's seasons they play the big games as well. At night there's a Trivia game, with prize, but I've never been very sober by the time it rolls around and couldn't tell you what the prizes are. On occasion they'll have a band in to play, but they're usually barely tolerable and not worth the $5 door fee it entails. Overall, as I said, my favourite British Pub in town, and one of my favourite places in general.

Now, to some menu items.

Clam Chowder: I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a clam chowder lover. I'm picky about my chowder. To be good it has to have a certain thickness, a certain chunkiness, and I have to be able to taste the clams in every spoonful. The clam chowder of Splash Cafe in Central Coast California is the best and the basis for all my comparisons. At C&A clam chowder isn't always available, it's just what they seem to have as the soup of the day most weekends. The first time I had it, the chowder was quite good, and definitely worth having again. The second time, it was pretty bad, and it was obvious it had been left on the heat for far too long. It was discoloured, thick in a bad way, and had a rather odd taste to it. The third time, it was good again. I will order it again, since usually C&A is very consistent and I'm sure the time it was bad was a fluke.

Fries/Chips: C&A has good fries. Real fries. They're thick and perfect and have just the right amount of salt. I love them. I also love the curry sauce you can get as a dipping sauce. It's obviously not truly Indian, but it's still true to the origins. If I get fries, with anything or by themselves, I get the curry sauce.

Roast Beef Sandwich: This was very...British. Basic roast beef, real roast beef, on a roll, a side of au jus, and some fries. Bland, but not bad. The biggest thing this sandwich had going for it was the fact that they used real roast beef.

Sunday Special: The Sunday special is available, obviously, only on Sunday. It consists of potatoes, peas, cooked carrots, yorkshire pudding, and your choice of roast lamb or roast beef smothered in gravy. Now, I don't eat peas or cooked carrots and won't speak to those, but I do like meat and potatoes, and yorkshire pudding. I chose the lamb, since I'd had the roast beef in sandwich form. The yorkshire pudding was big, and good. Nothing spectacular, but a definite solid showing. The potatoes were perfect, and the gravy just made them better. The gravy was good and it was thick enough to stick. The lamb was a little dry, and even the gravy couldn't cover that up completely. There was a mint type sauce for the lamb but I hate mint on my lamb and when I tried a little, to me it was vile. If you like that sort of thing, you might like it, but I really don't.

Fish and Chips: I've already spoken to the chips, so I won't mention them here. The fish is very good, not the best in town, I prefer Village Pub's although only just. The batter is very thick and if you're not into that it can be a little off-putting. But, it's still a very tasty batter and the fish is always succulent. I suggest going on Tuesdays because that's all you can eat Fish and Chips day.

British Burger: This is a very average burger. When I say average I mean average for a proper restaurant or diner, I don't include fast food burgers in the comparison. It's pretty sizeable and they usually cook it to the level you want, which is often a hit or miss at most places. But really, as I said, an average burger, you've had better and you've had worse.

Breakfast Sandwich: This is basically the Brit version of an egg and bacon Mcmuffin. It uses the UK bacon that I adore so it gets points for that, but really it's egg and bacon on a biscuit. Nothing really spectacular, but it definitely hits the spot if you're craving something breakfasty.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich: This was very disappointing. The chicken breast was dry and slightly rubbery and they forgot to put the ham on the sandwich. A definite miss.

Pub Sirloin Steak: Not a bad steak, not necessarily on par with a fancy steak house, but you shouldn't expect it to be. Afterall C&A is a British pub. The steak is tasty and they cook it just right, but it's not exactly a top cut of beef and that's what brings it down a bit. If you're in the mood for steak, it's definitely a better choice than running down to your local Applebees or a few other national chains.

Chicken Fingers: Good, but pretty average. The concessions to American bar food needs seem to all fit this description. They're not as good as Chile's, but they're definitely better than a number of the national chains. Again, average.

Onion Rings: These are quite good as beer battered rings tend to be and you get quite a bit when you order them. Nothing about them really stands out but they are worth ordering.

Gammon and Eggs: Basically ham steak and eggs with a side of fries and toast these are good, but really there's only so much one can do with a ham steak and eggs. You'll definitely walk away full but again, it's ham steak and eggs, pretty hard to make spectacular and pretty hard to ruin.

English Trifle: I only had this once as usually I don't have room after a meal at C&A to get dessert. This, like the Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich, was very disappointing. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and think maybe I had it on an off day, but it was pretty bad. It tasted alright except for one overpowering taste that really killed it. It was as if a fruity liquer had gone rancid and vinegary and accidently been spilled in. I may give it a try again when I'm just there for a quick bite, but I'm a little leery.

And that's the menu I got through. I was intending to try a few different items and I will definitely be back there when I visit Vegas again. Cheers.